Circuit interrupter with handle locking means



CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER WITH HANDLE LOCKING MEANS Filed Jan. 18. 1968 Sept. 30, 1969 s. J. DE ANGELO 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG.|.

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WITNESSES |NvENToR Gerald J. De Angelo I i. ATTORNEY 4 Sept. 30, 1969' Filed Jan. 18. 1968 G. J. DE ANGELO CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER WITH HANDLE LOCKING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,470,336 CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER WlTH HANDLE LOCKING MEANS Gerald J. De Angelo, Monroe, Conn., assigner to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 698,883 Int.. Cl. Htllh 9/28, 27/00 U.S. Cl. 200-42 10 Claims ABSTRACT or THE DrscLosURn yA circuit interrupter is provided with means for locking the operating handle in the ON and OFF positions.

CROSS-REFERENCE The handle locking means is mounted on a circuit interrupter of the type disclosed in the copending application of Gerald J. De Angelo et al., Ser. No. 698,891 tiled Jan. 18, 1968.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION At certain installations, it is required or desirable to be able to padlock a circuit interrupter in one or more selected positions. For increased safety, it is desirable to provide that the locking means cannot readily be removed when the interrupter is padlocked. Thus, an object of this invention is to provide an improved circuit interrupter with locking means and securing .means securing the locking means to the circuit interrupter, which combination is constructed and arranged such that when the locking means is padlocked the securing means cannot be removed. A more general object of this invention is to provide an improved circuit interrupter with improved means for padlocking the handle structure in one or more selected positions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A circuit interrupter comprises an insulating housing having opening means at the front thereof and a handle structure protruding out through the opening means for manual operation between operating positions to open and close contacts within the housing. A stationary lock member is secured, by securing means, to the front of the housing in proximity to the handle structure. A movable lock member is connected to the handle structure for movement with the handle structure. The stationary and movable lock members are constructed and arranged to receive the hasp of a padlock in at least one of the operating positions of the handle structure to provide a locked condition locking the handle structure in the operating position. In the locked condition the movable lock member covers the securing means to prevent removal of the securing means to thereby prevent removal of the locking means from the circuit interrupter. The improved locking means is simple in construction and eifective in operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE l is a side elevational view of a molded-case circuit interrupter;

FIG. 2 is a top plan View, with parts broken away, of the circuit interrupter of FIGURE l;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a movable lock member;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a stationary lock member;

FIG. 5 is an end elevational View of the lock member of FIG. 4 looking in the direction of the V-V arrows of FIG. 4;

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FIG. 6 is a side sectional View, with parts broken away, and on a larger scale than FIGURE 1, of the circuit interrupter of FIGURE 1 with the locking means of FIGS. 3 and 4 mounted thereon;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational View, with parts broken away, and with parts in section, of the combination of FIG. 6 with the handle structure being shown in a different operating position;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 with the movable lock member being shown in a different position;

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view taken generally along the line IX-IX of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is an end View, with parts broken away. of the handle tie seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6-9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, there is shown, in FIG. 1. a circuit interrupter 5 comprising an insulating housing 7. The insulating housing 7 comprises an insulating base 9 and an insulating cover 11 secured to the base 9. The circuit interrupter 5 is a two-pole circuit interrupter with a separate circuit-interrupter mechanism 13 for each pole. The housing 7 is divided into two adjacent compartments for housing the two adjacent circuit-interrupter mechanisms 13. The housing 7 is provided with opening means 15 (FIG. 2) in the front thereof. A handle structure 17 protrudes out through the opening means 15. The opening means 15 comprises two separate openings 19, and the handle structure 17 comprises two separate handles 21 each of which protrudes out through one of the openings 19. Each of the handle members '21 is movable to operate the associated circuit-interrupter mechanism 13. The handles 21 are tied together, by means of a handle tie structure 23, for simultaneous operation.

The circuit interrupter 5 is of the type more specically described in the above-mentioned copending patent application of Gerald J. De Angelo et al. Ser. No. 698,891, filed lan. 18, 1968. Only a brief description of the interrupter will be provided herein. Each of the circuit-interrupter mechanisms 13 comprises a stationary contact 27, a movable Contact 29 carried on a movable contact arm 31 that is supported for movement about a pin 337 a toggle `structure 35 and one of the handle operating members 21. Each of the handle operating members 21 are pivotally connected to the associated toggle structure 35 by means of a pin 37. Each of the handle operating members 21 is mounted for pivotal movement about a separate pin 39. The handle structure 17 is pivotally movable in one direction to operate the toggle structures 35 to simultaneously close the contacts 29, 27 of the two pole units; and pivotally m-ovable in the opposite direction to operate the toggle structures 35 to simultaneously open the two pairs of contacts 27, 29. Suitable trip means (not shown) are provided for automatically opening the contacts of both pole units in response to an overload in either pole unit. The circuit interrupter 5 is trip free in that the contacts will open on overload even when the handle structure 17 is held in the closed position. The reader is referred to the .above-mentioned copending patent application of Gerald I. De Angelo et al. for a more detailed description of the Icircuit interrupter.

The handle structure 17 can be locked in either of the two operating positions by means of locking means 43 (FIG. 6) that comprises a stationary lock member 45 (FIGS. 4 and 5) and a movable locking member 47 (FIG. 3). The stationary lock member 45 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is a sheet-metal rigid member comprising a generally planar base part 49 that is bent over to provide an upright part 51 at one side thereof and an upright stop part 53 at the other side thereof. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the generally planar upright parts 51 and 53 extend upward normal to the plane of the base part 49. The base part 49 is provided with an open slot 55 at one end thereof and an opening 57 therein. As can be seen in FIG. 8, the upright part 51 of the stationary lock member 45 is provided with a pair of padlock-receiving openings 59 and 61. As can be understood with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 6, the stationary lock member 45 is secured to the front of the housing 7 by means of a securing self-tapping screw 63 that passes through the opening 57 (FIG. 4) and that is threaded into an opening 65 (FIG. 2) in the front of the insulating cover 11. A molded insulating projection 69 (FIGS. 1 and 2), molded integral with the housing cover 11, ts in the slot 55 (FIG. 4) of the stationary lock member 45 to prevent pivotal movement of the lock member 45 about the axis of the securing screw 63. The movable lock member 47 is a sheet-metal rigid member comprising7 a generally planar base part 71 having a stop-projecting part 73 extending at one side thereof in the same plane as the base part 71. The base part 71 is bent-over at the other side to provide an upright generally planar part 75 having a padlock-receiving opening 77 (FIG. 8) therein. The upright part 75 extends upward normal to the plane of the base part 71. The base part 71 of the movable lock member 47 is provided with a narrow portion at one end thereof that is split and bent-over (FIGS. 3 and 6) to provide two opposite upright mounting legs 79 and a center upright mounting leg 81 that is spaced between the legs 79 and spaced longitudinally from the legs '79.

The handle structure 17 (FIG. 9) comprises the two insulating handle operating members 21, and the insulating handle tie structure 23. The handle-tie structure 23 comprises a rigid metallic pin 83 (FIG. 9) that extends through a separate opening in each of the handle operating members 21, and an insulating slip-on cover 85 (FIGS. 9 and The insulating cover 85 is a plastic member having a pair of cavities 87 (FIG. 10) therein for receiving the handle operating members 21, and a center cavity 89 for receiving the parts 79, S1 (FIGS. 6 and 9) of the movable locking member 47. During the assembly of the circuit breaker, after the pin 83 is positioned to tie the handle operating members 21 together (FIG. 9), the plastic insulating generally resilient cover 85 is then forced over the handle operating members 21 to capture the pin 83 in place. If desired, the cover 85 can be cemented or glued in the mounted position thereof.

When it is desired to mount the locking means on the housing 7, the stationary lock member 45 is secured to the front of the cover of the housing by means of the securing screw 63 (FIG. 6) in the manner hereinbefore described. Thereafter, with the handle structure 17 in the OFF position, the movable lock member 47 is moved into the position seen in FIG. 8 with the leg parts 79, 81 (FIG. 3) thereof straddling the pin 83 in the center cavity 89 (FIGS. 9 and 10) of the cover member 85. The movable lock member 47 is then pivoted down from the position seen in FIG. 8 to the position seen in FIG. 7. A hasp 91 of a padlock may then be positioned in the aligned padlockreceiving openings 61, 77 (FIG. 8) of the stationary and movable lock members 45, 47 respectively. With the movable lock member 47 in the position shown in FIG. 7, the stop projection 73 (FIGS. 3 and 7) on the movable lock member 47 will engage the stop projection 53 (FIGS. 4, 5 and 7) on the stationary lock member 45 to prevent movement of the handle structure 17 from the OFF (FIG. 7) position to the ON (FIG. 6) position, and the movable lock member 47 cannot be pivoted up to a position wherein the part 73 on the movable lock member 47 clears the stopped projection 53 on the stationary lock member 45. Thus, the circuit interrupter is padlocked in the OFF position in FIG. 7. It is to be noted that the base part 71 of the movable lock member 47 covers the securing screw 63 (FIG. 6) that secures the stationary lock member 45 to the housing 7, and when the lock member 47 is padlocked in the position shown in FIG. 7, the

movable lock member 47 cannot be moved to uncover the securing screw 63 (FIG. 6) so that the securing screw 63 cannot be removed. Thus, the locking means is secured in position such that the lock means cannot be removed without destruction of parts when the locking means is padlocked as shown in FIG. 7. When it is desired to operate the handle structure 17 from the OFF position seen in FIG. 7 to the ON position seen in FIG. 6, the padlock hasp 91 is removed and the movable lock member 47 is pivoted to a position wherein the stop projection 73 thereon clears the stop projection 53 of the stationary lock member 45 whereupon the handle structure 17 can be pivoted to the ON position of FIG. 6. With the handle structure in the ON position of FIG. 6, the movable lock member 47 can be pivoted down to the locking position in which position the stop projection 73 thereon is on the other end of the top stop projection 53 of the stationary lock member 45 such that the stop projection 73 will engage the stop projection 53 to prevent movement of the handle structure 17 from the ON position of FIG. 6 to the OFF position of FIG. 7. The handle structure may be padlocked in the ON position by passing the hasp 91 of the padlock through the aligned openings 59, 77 (FIG. 8) of the stationary lock member 45 and movable lock member 47 respectively. With the parts padlocked as shown in FIG. 6, the movable lock member 47 cannot be pivoted to a position wherein the stop projection 73 clears the stop projection 53 so that the handle structure 17 is padlocked in the ON position. As seen in FIG. 6, the base part 71 of the movable lock member 47 covers the securing screw 63 so that when the parts are padlocked in the ON position the screw 63 is inaccessible and the locking means cannot be removed from the circuit interrupter without destruction of parts.

The stop projections 53, 73 on the stationary and movable lock members 45, 47 respectively are provided to limit the amount of movement of the handle structure 17 even if the hasp 91 of the padlock were of lesser diameter than as is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. It can be understood that for certain applications, the stop projections 53, 73 (FIGS. 3-5) can be left off of the members 45, 47 respectively in which case the lock members 45, 47 will be locked against substantial relative movement so long as the padlock hasp 91 is of sufficient diameter relative to the padlock-receiving openings to prevent such movement. In this case, it can be understood that the movable lock member 47 will merely slide on the stationary lock member 45 during manual operations and it will not be necessary to pivot the movable lock member to clear any stop projections as is the case in the preferred embodiment when the stop projections 53 and 73 are utilized.

When it is desired to remove the locking means 43 from the circuit interrupter, the padlock hasp 91 is removed, and the movable lock member 47 is pivoted to the position shown in FIG. 8, with the handle structure 17 in the OFF position, whereupon the parts 79, 81 of the movable lock member 47 can be moved clear of the handle structure 17 moving under a ledge 95 (FIG. 8) of the cover 85. Thereafter, the securing screw 63 (FIG. 6) can be removed and the stationary lock member 45 can be removed from the circuit interrupter. If desired, both of the lock members 45, 47 can be left on the circuit interrupter since the circuit interrupter can be manually operated with the lock members on the interrupter. It may be desirable in some instances to remove the movable lock member 47 while permitting the stationary lock member 45 to remain in position. For certain applications it may be desirable to permanently secure the movable lock member 45 to the circuit interrupter.

I claim as my invention:

1. A circuit interrupter comprising an insulating housing having opening means at the front thereof, a pair of contacts supported within said insulating housing, a hanle structure protruding out through said opening means and being movable from an ON position to an OFF position to open said contacts and from the OFF position to the ON position to close said contacts, locking means comprising a stationary lock member and a movable lock member, securing means securing said stationary lock member to the front of said insulating housing, means connecting said movable lock member to said handle structure for movement with said handle structure, said stationary lock member and said movable lock member being constructed and arranged to receive the hasp of a padlock in at least one of said positions of said handle structure to provide a locked condition locking said handle structure in said one position, and in said locked condition said movable lock member covering said securing means to prevent removal of said securing means.

2. A circuit interrupter according to claim 1, said stationary lock member and said movable lock member being constructed and arranged to receive the hasp of a padlock in each of said ON and OFF positions of said handle structure to provide a locked condition in each of said ON and OFF positions of said handle structure, and in each of said locked conditions said movable lock member covering said securing means to prevent removal of said securing means.

3. A circuit interrupter according to claim l, a rst stop surface on said stationary lock member, a second stop surface on said movable lock member, and in said lock condition said first stop surface being in the path of iovement of said second stop surface to prevent operation of said handle structure from said one position to the other of said positions.

4. A circuit interrupter according to claim 2, a first stop projection on said stationary lock member, a second stop projection on said movable lock member, and in each of said locked conditions said first stop projection being in the path of movement of said second stop projection to prevent operative movement of said handle structure.

5. A circuit interrupter according to claim 1, said movable lock member being removably mounted to said handle structure whereby when said handle structure is not in said locked condition said movable lock member may be removed from said circuit interrupter.

6. A circuit interrupter according to claim 1, said stationary lock member comprising a generally planar base part and a generally planar upright part extending from the base part along a plane generally normal to the plane of the base part, said movable lock member comprising a generally planar base part and a generally planar upright part extending from the generally planar base part along a plane generally normal to the plane of the base part, said generally planar base part of said stationary lock member having opening means therein, said securing means comprising a securing member extending through said opening means in said generally planar base part of said stationary lock member, in said locked condition said generally planar base part of said movable lock member being positioned on top of said generally planar part of said stationary lock member covering said securing means, and said upright parts of said stationary and movable lock members having opening means therein aligned in at least said one position of said handle structure for receiving the hasp of a padlock to provide said locking condition.

7. A circuit interrupter according to claim 6 said upright part of said stationary lock member having a pair of openings therein, said upright part of said movable lock member having an opening therein, in said one position said opening in said upright part of said movable lock member being aligned with a rst of said openings in said upright part of said stationary lock member for receiving the hasp of a padlock, and in the other position of said handle structure said opening in said upright part of said movable lock member being aligned with the second of said openings in the upright part of said stationary lock member for receiving the hasp of a padlock, whereby said handle structure can be padlocked in each of said operating positions.

8. A circuit interrupter according to claim 6, said handle structure being mounted for pivotal movement about a fixed pivot, said handle structure comprising a pin member extending generally parallel to the axis of said ixed pivot, and said base part of said movable lock member comprising a pair of bent-over upright parts receiving said pin therebetween to thereby provide said connection between said movable lock member and said handle structure.

9. A circuit interrupter according to claim 8, said insulating housing comprising a pair of compartments, a pair of said contacts supported within each of said compartments, said handle structure comprising a separate handle operating member for each of said compartments protruding out through said opening means and being movable to operate the associated pair of contacts, said handle structure comprising a pin member extending between said handle operating members to connect said handle operating members for a simultaneous movement, and said movable lock member being connected to said pin member for movement with said handle structure.

10. A circuit interrupter according to claim 9, and said movable lock member comprising a pair of bent-over upright parts receiving said pin member therebetween to provide said connection between said movable lock member and said handle structure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,055,995 9/1962 Snow. 3,076,876 2/l963 Stanback et al. 3,255,320 6/1966 Norden.

ROBERT K. SCHAEFER, Primary Examiner H. J. HOHAUSER, Assistant Examiner 

